Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday singled out Rep. John Katko for criticism over an immigration reform bill the Syracuse-area congressman is helping to lead through the House.

Cuomo made his comments after Katko urged President Donald Trump to end a policy that has resulted in the separation of some 2,000 migrant children from their families at the U.S. border over a six-week period.

Katko, R-Camillus, said the bill he helped negotiate would keep those families together. But the governor said the bill would do no such thing.

"While Katko pays lip service against the moral atrocity on our border, he is leading the charge to pass an extreme immigration bill that does nothing to stop it," Cuomo said in a statement.

Cuomo said the bill, which restores protection for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children, fails to directly address the zero-tolerance policy the Trump "administration is using to force parents and children apart."

The governor added, "If Katko really cared for the children being separated from their parents by this administration, then he would show some backbone and stop his overlords in the White House from tearing families apart."

Cuomo made his comments on the eve of Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Syracuse, where he is due to attend a $1,000-per-person fundraiser for Katko and tour the Nucor steel plant in Auburn.

"Rep. Katko is leading constructive efforts in Congress to tackle immigration reform," she said. "As a former prosecutor with experience on the southern border, he appreciates the input of the governor, who seems eager to change the subject with the start of this week's corruption trial in the Southern District of New York."

Katko said earlier Monday that the U.S. must keep its border secure "in a humane way that preserves family unity and keeps young children safe."

Cuomo called the separation of parents and children at the border "a moral outrage" and said he would refuse, if asked, to deploy the New York National Guard to help with border security.